


Power Rangers: The Gift and the Warning

by SoLongSaulGood



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Friends So Close It Makes People Uncomfortable, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Parents Trying Their Best, Post-Power Rangers (2017)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29960796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoLongSaulGood/pseuds/SoLongSaulGood
Summary: Two months after the attack on Angel Grove finds the town still recovering. Our heroes do their best to get through life while managing their personal lives and their newly found responsibilities. Will the discovery a of a possible new Ranger throw everything they've worked for off course? Or everything they love to ruin?Uses the 2017 movie as main cannon, with a slight divergence at the end.
Relationships: Billy Cranston & Kimberly Hart & Jason Lee Scott & Zack Taylor & Trini, Kimberly Hart/Jason Lee Scott, Tommy Oliver/Trini
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	1. Detention

The Saturday sun rose over the Angel Grove Highschool football field. Deep reds and oranges spanned the horizon and the stadium was gradually brightened with the coming dawn. A figure high above was lit with its rays. Thirty feet up, on an upright of a football goal post, Trini held the third warrior pose.

Her eyes were closed, and over her ears headphones blared industrial metal. A gray beanie kept her hair in place as the wind whipped by. It went through the black leather jacket she wore over a Rammstein t-shirt. Ankle high yellow Converses and tight jeans completed her outfit and did her small-town-rebel look well.

Jason and Zack were in the bleachers quietly sharing a muffin split evenly between them. The two were in the middle of a chess game on their cellphones and were content to break their silence to only crack on their opponent's last move. Jason wore navy track pants and a red shirt while Zack was in sweats and a hoodie, all black of course.

And below, on the white lined grass of the football field, Billy and Kimberly sparred. Both wore athletic clothes for the fight, with blue and pink sweatbands respectively.

A high kick was easily blocked. So was the punch combination as he countered with a leg sweep that she lifted her leading foot up to avoid and flipped backwards to dodge a pair of roundhouse kicks he followed up with.

Billy held his ground as he saw Kim inch backwards. He charges forward, sensing a moment of advantage and is greeted with a flying kick which he blocks with both arms crossed, his forearms taking the brunt of the attack.

Kim vaults off of Billy and into the air above. She somersaults over and behind him, tenses her body downwards and tries to land a kick at his blindside only to see him roll safely away. She lands lightly on the grass ready for her opponent. Billy prepares for another charge and Kim readies herself for the coming attack, but an alarm goes off.

The two combatants look to the bleachers where they left their things. Trini’s headset blares the alarm as well, making her swirl her arms regaining balance on the upright. Jason and Zack both get up and sling their backpacks over their shoulders.

“Yo, it’s time.” Jason yelled down to the pair of combatants.

Kim relaxes for a moment then takes a bounding leap for the bleachers and quickly collects her belongings while Billy follows doing the same. Trini lands quietly by Jason and Zack from her high perch, pulling her beanie off and stuffing it in a jacket pocket.

“I don’t know why we even bother with this anymore.” Her nose wrinkled while asking as they waited for Billy and Kim who were coming up the stadium stairs. When the two stragglers caught up the team started walking towards the detention hall.

“It’s the secret identity thing, Crazy Girl.” Zack reminded with a sarcastic grin. Jason smirked hands in his pockets while Billy and Kim toweled off their sweat.

"Plus I did blow up my locker, so I accept this as punishment deserved." Billy pointed out as he dabbed the towel on his face the way Kim taught him. Facial skin was delicate, he learned.

“Yeah, I’m with Billy, I deserve to be there too.” Kim said glumly.

No one brought up the incriminating act that landed her a year's worth of detention though they all knew what she did and the remorse she felt. Trini snorted, suppressing a laugh. She was the only one who found the whole thing hilarious. The former cheerleader shoved her but there was no anger or vitriol, Trini grinned not losing a step.

“And I’ve had it since the cow thing.” Jason admitted.

There wasn’t much he could do now about past mistakes, but he could at least bring his grades up. And he knew Zack needed to make up work from his long period of truancy, so they should probably hit the books together in between sessions in the Pit and sparring matches. Billy and Trini were both in accelerated classes and could probably help with tutoring. Kim was good at writing essays so she might have some pointers there.

Lost in thought, Jason found himself a little ahead of the rest as they chatted about nothing. It used to bother him more but he was alright with it now. Trini noticed first and double stepped to his side.

“Sup, boss?” She was nonchalant as she looked up to him. He gave her a wry grin, he hated it when she called him that but secretly it was relieving to hear someone verbally acknowledging him, it helped take the edge off.

“Gonna bring up some school stuff to the team.”

“Grades?” Trini assumed and Jason winced.

“Yeah and maybe change the training schedule because of 'em.”

“Alpha has me and Billy working on the ship so we’ll have to figure that in as well.” Trini reminded him.

“Trini!” Kim rushed over and took the girl’s hand. “We’ll meet up with the rest of you guys in a bit.” She told Jason and led Trini away and to the women’s bathroom. The smaller girl frowned while being half dragged but offered no resistance “Billy you should wash and change too.” Kim reminded her friend before going.

“Oh, yeah. That’s a good idea.” Billy agreed, realizing the sweat he had accumulated would become uncomfortable later. He broke off towards the facilities.

“I’ll be back,” Zack started walking away and Jason was about to say something but saw his friend spin around to face him while still walking, a grin on his face and pointing a finger. “In time!”

“See you there.” Jason made a face as though he didn't believe him.

Alone, he walked the halls towards where the classroom detention was held in. The doors would still be locked but he could use the time to quickly go over some schoolwork. He was surprised to see someone there already waiting there.

Amanda raised an eyebrow as Jason approached and let him speak first before acknowledging him.

“Morning.” He greeted the blonde politely and got a tight smile in return before sitting on the floor next to the door. A thick Biology textbook was fished out of his bag and he began paging through it. Amanda huffed and checked her phone for the time.

“This is detention, right? I thought they’d be letting people in by now.” The blonde complained.

“Sometimes, but it’s a different teacher every week.” Jason let her know.

Amanda pouted and gave him a look from the side of her eye. Though they had known each other most their lives, it was more through shared friends then actually being friends themselves. There was little in common between them besides the people they knew.

Then Jason Scott, star quarterback for the Angel Grove Pouncing Tigers ruined his season before it even started, quit sports completely, then started hanging out with losers and nerds, not to mention that backstabbing bitch. He was dropped from football for the rest of the year and their socialization practically evaporated. But that was hardly the only thing that’s been different about Angel Grove since two months ago.

“So, you’re still here for the cow thing?” She asked with a sympathetic frown. Jason chuckled good-naturedly.

"Yep, still here for that cow thing. Doubt I'll ever live it down."

"You could always just leave."

"I thought I would eventually. Especially after I got kicked off the team."

"And now?"

"Well, now I don't know. Maybe, I'll stay here. Maybe, now I think I need this town more than I thought." Jason realized with a sigh. Amanda became speculative.

It had been fifty-six days since the attack on Angel Grove, Washington. Giant monsters, robots, and probably aliens people speculated, fought and in the process, destroyed the center of town leaving its citizens to clean up in the aftermath. A large population of business owners and shop workers were left with no means of income. Buildings that stood for near a century were reduced to smoldering rubble.

FEMA set up in the rubble with Marines erecting field hospitals and refugee tents. Some of those structures still stand now. Military scientists started conducting experiments and government investigators interviewed nearly everyone in town. Zordon and Alpha kept the ship well hidden from any probing instruments that may show any signs out of the ordinary and remained hidden as always. But to the citizens of Angel Grove, nothing had been the same since, everything changed.

 _Am I changing too?_ Amanda thought and dismissed it as quickly as it came to her.

"What are you doing here, if you don't mind me asking." Jason changed subjects deftly.

“I tutor math for college credits now and Colt Wallace is failing Trig.”

Before Jason could reply the door opened suddenly, startling Amanda making her step back and out of view. Zack poked his head out with a mischievous smile on his face. Jason got up quickly.

“Break anything getting in?” He asked quietly through grit teeth. His friend took a mock offense, putting a delicate hand on his chest.

“ _Moi? M'innocent?_ ” Zack overdid the French accent. Amanda stepped out from behind the door who Zack quickly gave an up and down. “How you doin’?”

He did his best to channel Joey Tribiani but got an eye-roll from the girl for his effort. He moved out of the way and made an after-you, while maintaining his wolfish grin at the teenaged girl. Something about her caught his eye but she passed while aggressively ignoring him.

Jason took a step inside but was stopped by a hand to his chest from Zack who was still watching Amanda as she found her way to a desk. She gave a moment of thought to the arrogant kid at the door after looking around and only seeing a single open window that was too high for anyone to reach.  
“How did he even get in?” She thought.

“Yo, she’s cute. I think I’ve seen her before. We know her?” Zack asked his friend.

“As in the Royal ‘we’? No, Zack, we don’t know her. I do though.” Jason told him and Zack perked his ears at his friend’s words. They made their way down the stairs to the room and spoke hushedly. “And Kim used to be on the cheer team with her.”

“Oooh shiiit…” Zack’s eyes went wide as he stretched out his words realizing where he’d seen Amanda’s face. “She’s her?” He lowered his voice to a whisper as he tried to remain nonchalant. They found seats in the corner rear with space for the others. “Damn, guilty by association is gonna make it real hard for me to hit on her.”

Jason gave him a you gotta be kidding me look. “Lotta complications if you try to make moves in that situation.”

“By complications, do you mean ‘makes things more interesting’?”

“No, as in it brings up crappy feelings for everyone affected by said situation. Talk to Kim if you really wanna know more.” Jason nodded at the entrance seeing the rest of the group arrive. Zack looked up to see Billy followed in by Kim and Trini who were laughing and smiling as they walked.

Kim’s face changed immediately when she saw Amanda in the room already. Both had a moment of eye contact but the current cheerleader’s face changed to one of disgust while Kim was downcast as she walked by. The exchange was noticed by Jason who hoped Zack did too and would become dissuaded in pursuing Amanda.

Billy sat first producing his usual books and pencils arranged specifically to his liking. Kim and Trini found seats around the guys but their enthusiasm was gone and Trini kept giving Amanda the stink-eye.

“I could tear that bitch apart…” Trini began through grit teeth and Kim grabbed her forearm roughly.

“Don’t start, please?” Kim sounded a little desperate and tried to explain quietly, hot tears welling in her eyes. “I just don’t want anymore…”

“Hey,” Billy soothed with a touch of her shoulder, reaching over from his desk. “Hey, we get it, it’s cool. We can keep things copasetic.” Billy glanced over to Trini who was glaring at Amanda while now cracking her knuckles.

Jason went over to Kim and knelt by her so he was looking up into her eyes and placed his hands on both her knees. He saw Amanda over her shoulder exchanging dirty-looks with Trini.

“You good?” He watched his friend compose herself while making quick jerky nods.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She cleared her eyes quickly.

“I’m gonna talk to the team about changing up the training schedules, you up to it?” He asked gently, squeezing her knees a little. More nods from Kim and he sprung up and took a spot in front of the rest getting their attention.

“Guy’s, I’m failing Bio.” Jason stated when all eyes were on him.

“Ha! You suck!” Zack called out while pointing and laughing. Trini kicked his chair and got looks from Billy and Kim.

“And Zack’s failing a few classes as well.” Jason added shaking his head at his friend.

“Dude, not cool! I told you that in confidence!”

“It’d be obvious with your attendance record. Last I saw, you’re at fourty-four days truant, and since I know you still skip school to go to the trainyard or the Pit or stay with your mom, that number’s most likely risen to the low or mid-fifties.” Billy provided as he readjusted his books and pencils not noticing the surprised glances from the other four.

“How do you know how many days Zack’s been absent?” Trini was curious but whispered.

The rest leaned in making Billy realize that what he said was important to them somehow, and that his answer would be too. Kim had been especially good at helping him understand his friends better. He knew this motion could be a covert signal for subterfuge. Or they could be drowsy suddenly but the expectant looks on their faces made that possibility the least likely of the situation. He mirrored his friends’ body language.

“Should I be whispering?” He asked in a low, but almost not low enough tone and Kim smiled at her friend who was still learning.

“Yeah, Billy. That’d probably be a good idea.” She got in closer to him.

“I have admin access to the school’s server. After I met all of you I checked your records for contact information just in case.” He spoke quieter this time.

“How? Why?” Jason asked, glancing around just in case.

“Yeah, yo? How come you never told us?” Zack tried to tamp down his excitement.

“Server security is pretty old, and takes low to average skill to bypass. I mostly do it in case I need to change my grades. Also I never told you because it never came up till now.” Billy explained.

More looks were traded. Billy was honest to a fault, they must be misunderstanding things. His natural intelligence coupled with his pathology prevented him from having to or understanding the need to do anything underhanded academically. Kim realized what he meant first.

“Billy, sweetie. Do you hack into the school server to sometimes lower your own grades?”

Billy took a second to look at each of his friends. He gathered his thoughts and spoke.

“Teachers can be too generous. Bias or being overworked can make them overlook inaccuracies or shortcomings. I’ve handed in work that I know for sure contained both to my personal disappointment, but received marks that didn’t reflect that. Grading should be fair to everyone. I’m just correcting for human error.” The teenager explained with a nod. Jason sat back laughing a little, Trini and Kim did the same. Zack whined quietly.

“Dude, you could just make it so I’m passing.”

Billy frowned at his friend. “That’d be dishonest.” He looked at Zack as though it should have been obvious. The other teen deflated and Kim beamed at Billy with pride until she remembered a discrepancy with a grade she received recently. Of course, she quickly pointed it out to her instructor who apologized and corrected it.

“You changed the grade on my physics paper, didn't you?” Eyes wide, Kim stuttered her accusation.

“It was B work at best. You were either transposing terminology or had no clue what you're talking about.” He told her off handedly. Trini and Zack made gleeful faces hearing him call out the often pampered girl. Jason and Kim looked aghast.

“I knew it!” She said accusingly.

“Billy, you can’t just force your standards on other people like that.” Jason explained.

“She can’t settle between _nucular_ and _nuclear_.” Billy looked at the others else as though he explained it perfectly to his friends. Jason and Zack both shook their heads at each other, clearly confused. 

“Those were typos! I was rushing!” Kim defended angrily.

“Which one’s the proper term?” Trini challenged with a feral grin and got a withering look from her friend instead of an answer.

“But going back to what we were talking about.” Jason reigned his teammates back into business. They turned their attention to him, though Kim folded her arms and huffed deciding to get her revenge during the next sparring match with Billy.

Jason lay out the issue of his and Zack’s grades and asked for ideas on how to fit tutoring around their training schedules. They discussed who could volunteer the most time to help as other detention attendees started to trickle in.

Colt Wallace joined Amanda and they huddled quietly turning her back to Kim and her group. More students began filling seats or walking up and down the desk rows, ignoring others or being ignored in return. Finally, a teacher walked in as well. Heavyset and a long red beard, he had proctored detention many times before.

“Everyone settle in, I’m going to call attendance.” He donned a sweater vest with a tie underneath, slacks and tasseled shoes. His leather briefcase was placed on the desk and a laptop was produced. He quickly went down his list marking down responses and paused at an unfamiliar name.

“Ah, we have a new detention student! Tammy Oliver?” The teacher repeated the name two more times with everyone else looking around only to see a green jacket over an empty chair. Trini was the only one who noticed the pencil laying broken next to a workbook on the desk.

And somewhere in the halls, a locker exploded.


	2. Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mentions of drug use in this chapter.

She couldn’t slow down her breathing. There was so much sweat on her forehead it dripped into the sink below. Her heart felt like it was going to punch out of her chest.

She smoked some weed before going to school but it was just a pinch, just enough to get comfortably numb while in detention. Now she was forcing her eyes shut and gritting teeth. This was definitely not the weed.

Tammy held on to the sink in the girls bathroom as though it was the only thing letting her breath. She felt heat on her body but couldn't identify where. She forced herself to open her eyes and saw the reflection in the mirror. It was wrong. A serpentine dragon emerging from water. It wasn’t her. Emerald flashes and matching armor materialized in her vision.

Without thinking she pulled something from her back pocket. She didn't even remember where she got it. The warmth in her hand lacked comfort and grew hotter and brighter, basking the white porcelain of the girl’s bathroom in a sick green glow. She felt no pain despite the burning in her grasp intensifying.

A sudden twist in Tammy’s stomach made her lurch into a stall and wretched into the toilet. There was a ringing in her ear and she realized the hand she held the glowing disk with was pressed up against the tile wall and no longer felt hot. She dry-heaved several more times before she could think about it. Tammy could have sworn she heard something that sounded like an explosion outside and was rocked suddenly, making her stumble in the stall.

Her shoulder hit the metal door, knocking it violently off its hinges and sent it flying into the row of sinks outside, shattering porcelain, tile and glass. Eyes wide, astonished at the debris before her, the teenaged girl stumbled out of the bathroom to see even more chaos in the hallway. The lockers and school supplies peppered the space before the exploded locker. She accomplished a couple more steps and Tammy collapsed to the floor. Locker doors were bent and mangled on the floor, water spurted out from a broken pipe behind the walls.

* * *

“Cranston!” The teacher moaned in exasperation hearing the explosion.

All heads turned to Billy, who admitted fault immediately. He was pretty sure he'd properly stored and accounted for all of his explosives, learning his lesson from last time. Was there a possibility he missed some? Slim, but he was responsible for one hundred percent of all explosions in the school thus far so he couldn't rule himself out.

“That might’ve been me! I’m so sorry!”

The teacher rushed out the door and was back shortly urgently calling for Jason and Zack to help, the other three came despite. He led them to a water laden portion of a hallway and they saw someone lying by a bathroom entrance, soaking in the pooling spray of cold water. Billy surveyed the damage.

“This was definitely not me.” He clarified to the teacher who ignored the boy.

“Grab her and get her to the room.” He told Jason and Zack as he pointed to the feminie figure on the floor. Turning to Kim and Trini, he said “Call an ambulance, tell them what’s going on.”

Jason carried the girl to the classroom, the other students became obviously curious seeing him enter and place a limp form over the teacher’s desk. Kimberly rushed to her bag to get her cellular phone and dialed 911.

“We need an ambulance at the high-school. Someone’s collapsed and hasn't regained consciousness. She’s a student here and um...” Kim spoke clearly and calmly to the operator but her brows knit and she became flustered listening to the response.

“Billy! They want a status on her.” She rushed to her friend who was examining the passed out teen and handed him her phone. He put the phone to his ear and began speaking without hesitation.

“Non-white, non-Hispanic female teenager found collapsed and unconscious on the floor.” He felt up and down her throat and opened her mouth to look inside. “Airways look and feel clear but breath and heart rate are very tachy. She’s diaphoretic with gray pallor but no cyanosis. Possible exposure to toxins, gas inhalation most likely.”

Billy used his thumb to force Tammy’s eyelids open. “Pupils are slightly dilated but not fixed. We’re in the detention hall. Thanks.” Billy handed back the phone and saw the glowing object still clutched by Tammy. No one else noticed, too focused on the girl herself. Subtly, while everyone was still distracted, he pried the thing out of Tammy’s sweaty hand shoved it in his pocket.

Everyone crowded around the unconcious girl until paramedics came and took her. With the amount of excitement more than he cared for the teacher ended detention early promising full credit for the day despite. All that was left to do was for everyone to go home and go on with the rest of their day.

* * *

The team made their way to Mrs. Cranston’s van. She was able to replace the old one with the insurance payout after finding it was totaled after it was stolen. They kept conversation minimal till they could all pile into the vehicle. Billy and Jason sat in the front with the other three sat in the rear.

“Let’s see it!” Jason spoke excitedly as soon as the van door slid shut. Billy produced the green power coin. Their minds raced with the implication of what a newly discovered power coin could mean.

“Does she know she’s a Ranger?”

“Was she evil?”

“What was her Zord?”

“You think she’s into dudes?” Zack asked sincerely, looking around to his teammates for their reply. Kim’s face fell into her hands. Billy and Jason just shook their heads at him. Trini rolled her eyes so hard her head fell limp onto her shoulders before she straightened up again to give him a dirty look.

“You are so thirsty! First Amanda, now this one?” Jason brought up without thinking. He realized his mistake and cursed under his breath as Kim and Trini made angry shocked faces and turned to Zack who threw his hands up in offense.

“Dude!”

“For real?”

“Are you serious? Amanda!?”

“What are we talking about?”

They all spoke at once, or laughing or groaning from mispeaking. Billy started breathing fast. He wasn’t exactly sure why everyone was very loud all of a sudden but he wasn’t really able to understand what anyone was saying and now they sounded like they were angry with each other. He gripped the steering wheel, almost crushing it. Then he opened his door and took several long steps out, taking deep breaths as he walked.

He didn't remember to close the door. Jason had clear vantage of his friend escaping the van. The rest fell silent seeing him, embarrassed that they still forget how much stimulus Billy could withstand. When he came back into the van they all tried to be calmer while speaking.

“If this came from Rita, we need to protect ourselves from it.” Trini pointed out.

“Do you think she knows what she is?” Kim asked aloud though did not expect an answer.

“Someone should maybe keep an eye on her?” Zack suggested with a frown. The rest agreed.

“We need to talk to Zordon.” Jason told the rest. They nodded but seemed solem at the prospect. Billy started the engine.

They talked little during the drive letting country music fill their silence. Dolly Parton and Roger Alan Wade filled their travel as they drove to the quarry. After parking the van, they trekked up to the crag and jumped down into the ravine, swimming to the spaceship where Zordon and Alpha resided.

In the chamber with Zordon, Billy proffered the coin up to Earth’s original Red Ranger hoping the height would allow him better vantage to examine it. The circular disc began to shine. Alpha had the ship run scans on the artifact that the team had brought them.

“This coin is the same that Rita held.” Zordon told the Rangers, the many blocks conveying his facial expressions. He definitely looked concerned.

“All signs and readings confirm that this was dislodged from her staff after your interaction.” Alpha confirmed running the findings through his own processes.

“So what does it say about Tammy?” Trini asked the towering face on the wall.

“That the coin now belongs to her. That it chose Tamara Oliver as your coins did you.” Zordon told them.

“Is she dangerous to us?” Kim wanted to know. The rest looked to Zordon expectantly.

“We cannot determine this until she allows herself to be scanned by the vessel.”

“You can’t do that remotely?” Billy asked.

“Your armor is capable of relaying information to our computers. If one of you makes physical contact with her, Alpha can discover any malicious intentions Tammy may have.” Zordon supplied.

“Any and all information cannot be obtained until further scans are completed and verified.” Alpha clarified, his arms elongating and snatching the coin from Billy’s hand and retracting back for the robot’s eyes to project lights and glowing motes drifting slowly down towards the obsidian disc with green swirling in it’s center.

“To what extent is the armor ingrained in us?” the blue Ranger asked, working out the implications of what Zordon told them.

“At the ribosomal levels. The morphing process is a part of your biology now.” Only Billy and Trini really understood the depth of that statement.

“I’ll have all subsystems ready for any infographics transfer. If you all prefer that is.” The millennia old robot supplied passive-aggressively trying to remain on task.

“We can take care of that.” Jason promised. The rest looked to him assuming he had a plan.

“We need any information we can find on her. We need to know where she is right now and figure a way for some kind of surveillance.” Bringing up Zack’s earlier suggestion.

“Can we get information from her hospital stay?” Trini brought up. The others looked to Alpha expectantly.

“Her father refused admittance and they left the facility some time ago. Though, a complete blood count was performed which indicated normal human levels.”

“Is there an address?” Jason asked.

“I will send it to your cellular phones.” Alpha provided.

“What’s the play, boss?” Trini spoke up and everyone turned to the Red Ranger.

“We wait till it’s late and everyone’s asleep, go in, make the contact and get out of there.” He explained simply. “How long will the scan take?” Slow came nods from his team.

“Two to seven seconds.” Alpha told him.

“Then, this takes no time. The hardest part would be getting in and getting out. Unless they have some kind of Ranger-proof security, it’ll be cake.”

Jason checked the time, they had a session in the Pit scheduled for today but Jason thought it might be good to switch things up a bit.

“We have some time to kill so, how ‘bout instead of the Pit, we hit up the Center tonight?” There was a moment where he could feel as well as see tension leaving his team a little.

“Oh, thank God! I did not want to do the Pit tonight.” Zack looked relieved and the others echoed his sentiment.

* * *

The Angel Grove Youth Center was one of the few places thankfully left untouched by the recent attack. This was mostly important to the youths of Angel Grove as there were limited choices for what a teenager could do on a Saturday night in the small coastal town.

The building housed a gym on the second level and a juice and soda bar that sold snacks and drinks to the local clientele that consisted of mostly high-schoolers and their chaperones. The main draw of the Youth Center was the first floor arcade. Inside, a huge bank of videogames ranging from classic to modern. It even held several types of virtual reality simulators and sports themed games as well as a laser tag maze.

At first they would all split up, each Ranger had their own personal favorites. Jason would be by the sports games, especially the football toss, having the top three scores on all machines. Kim would spend most of her time in jet fighter simulators, enclosed in a small cockpit that would tilt and shake as she barrel-rolled in mock dog fights.

Billy found he really enjoyed PacMan™ and the cowboy quickdraw games and target practice. Trini and Zack alternated in competing with each other on the dancing games and air-hockey. All enjoyed fighting games and ranked on every machine in the arcade.

Currently four of them were playing Turtles In Time™, having jumped on the opportunity to occupy all the controllers together. Jason played was Raphael, Trini was Michelangelo, Kim was Leonardo, and Billy controlled Donatello. They were on the second level, finally reached Leatherhead, and attacked the mutated alligator him as a team.

Zack, being the only one not playing leaned against the machine, watching while sipping on a pineapple mango smoothie. He kept his body close to the control console to block a paper tray of cheesy nachos from view as a sign hanging over him read “NO FOOD OR DRINKS BY THE MACHINES.”

The Black Ranger watched his friends as he grazed on chips covered in cheese sauce. They made small jokes and dumb voices to make each other laugh. Imitating Zordon and Alpha had been a running gag since their first bonfire. Billy wondered if the two aliens could hear through their armor, he’d ask the robot later.

Intermittently, one of the team would make an exaggerated face at Zack, opening and closing their mouths so lips smacked audibly, indicating they wanted a chip. So, he would make sure no one saw and fed his friends cheesy nachos allowing them to play uninterrupted. He liked these moments, he hated having to ruin it.

“Yo Kim,” he spoke loud enough to be heard over the din of the games and crowds but low enough to be private about it. “I think you should try to apologize to Amanda.” Glares were met with Zack taking another sip of juice and maintaining an innocent look.

“You’re being a real dick about this, Zack.” Kim’s jaw set and her brows knit as she tried to focus on the game.

“You want me to break his smug face?” Trini offered support to her friend.

“But then what would we keep him around for?” Jason commented dryly.

“I think an attempt at reconciliation is a good idea.” Billy pursed his lips at Zack and his friend let him sip some of the smoothie.

“Oh my God, Billy! You are like, betraying me left and right today.” An angry Kim hip-checked him into Jason and Billy used him to regain balance, Zack pulled the drink away trying not to spill any.

"I can break Billy’s face too." Trini suggested.

“Before Trini break’s anybody's face, Billy proposes the idea that what Zack suggests brings more pros than cons to our general situation. Billy can state three points why immediately.”

A pause in their conversation came as Kim took a moment to think while watching Leonardo on screen striking with trademark katanas and trading blows with Foot Clan minions. Apologize? How is that even possible for what she did?

Her brows knit at the thought, though her jaw relaxed and her anger lessened. They all continued playing with the sounds of the videogame and the arcade filling the lengthy silence between them all.

“What are your points?” Kim finally asked, the smoothie straw was at her lips before she had to ask. She sipped as she listened.

“Attempting to reconcile with your former friend will help with your personal growth, if successful it will restore a quality of life that’s been missing from your new highschool experience and finally it could clear a path for Zack to pursue her. Which I could assume would increase quality of life for the team overall.” Billy explained in length. Kim couldn’t disagree with anything he said.

“It has been a while now, Kim. We’re proud that you can face yourself again about what you did. That’s a great step, but …” Jason eased in his opinion.

“You’re right, I know you guys are right. it’s just I …” She knit her brows as she spoke. Her hands still moved deftly, keeping up with others despite verging on becoming emotional.

“Braver than you believe and stronger than you know, Pinky. I think you can at least try.” Zack assured. Kim pouted, he knew she loved Whinnie the Pooh.

"Okay guys, enough! We're here to relax." Trini reminded them with a low growl. Leatherhead started flashing red indicating his low health. “Nacho!” She demanded while scowling. A crunchy corn tortilla covered in cheese dip was delicately extended to her which Trini snatched with her teeth and ate it with an angry crunch.

“How long till we can make moves?” Zack asked changing subjects while giving Jason a sip. After swallowing, their leader spoke.

“We finish this game and head home. Midnight, we sneak out and head over to the Oliver’s place. Three of us watch the perimeter, one goes in and makes contact, with another guarding their back. You guys can call your positions if you want, think about it now, tell me your decision later.”

With no one disagreeing, they continued playing and chatting about anything that came to mind. Outside, the late sun began to set allowing the coming night to cover Angel Grove in darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking time to read this work. Any constructive criticism are welcome!


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